What carrier do you use and do you like it? I'm shopping around for 2 smartphones with decent data (200mb right now is not enough) and texting.

Right now I'm on Tmobile and they are about to severely limit data roaming. My first cell phone was a net10 and I'm thinking about going back to prepaid or maybe sprint. Would like to do Verizon but they are too pricey. Opinions from people, especially in the Raleigh Durham area, would be extremely useful.

3/4/2012 10:00:09 PM

pretty sure there's a bunch of this already in tech talk.

3/4/2012 10:10:06 PM

Not that I could find. I'm really curious how people with boost like the coverage.

3/5/2012 9:05:42 AM

I've got Sprint. The amount of data I use each month I really can't imagine switching. If Sprint gets rid of unlimited data I guess I'd start shopping around.

3/5/2012 9:08:32 AM

Sprint. Unlimited everything (including 3G and 4G) for $80 a month. The only thing not unlimited is calls to/from land lines, which I have 450 minutes for. But seriously, who the hell uses a land line anymore? I am in sales and on my phone pretty much all day long (both voice and internet), and my bill has never topped $90 after taxes.

And if you are looking at smartphones, you really need an unlimited plan. If you consider 200 MB to be anywhere close to "decent data", then you probably don't even need a smartphone.

[Edited on March 5, 2012 at 4:30 PM. Reason : a]

3/5/2012 4:29:08 PM

Find someone with a corporate discount and it'll get your Sprint plan down to $45/month.

[Edited on March 5, 2012 at 4:34 PM. Reason : t]

3/5/2012 4:34:04 PM

^^ a coworker's Sprint plan starts @ $100/month unlimited (he just got it about 2 wks ago for his samsung galaxy s2). is your $80 rate after some sort of discount?

3/5/2012 4:36:12 PM

I have been on it for over a year, so it is probably an old offering

Even so, $100 is still the best plan out there for truly unlimited data

[Edited on March 5, 2012 at 4:38 PM. Reason : a]

3/5/2012 4:37:36 PM

I was with Sprint for a couple years due to the low price, but finally ditched it a couple months ago. My chief complaint was the crappy data service. Worst case, I could have 5 bars of 3G and data wouldn't work. Sure it worked 90%-95% of the time, but that 5%-10% was annoying when the phone showed a full data signal. And lets not talk about their "4G"

Moved to Verizon and I've never been happier with a carrier. Sure it's more expensive (I'm on 450 + unlimited texting + 4GB data for $96/month total), but I finally have fast and reliable 3G data (unlike Sprint, on both counts), blazing 4G data, and superior voice service as a bonus. Sure if I consumed gigs and gigs of data from my carrier I might be inclined to stay with Sprint, but with Wifi most anywhere I go my usage is usually 1GB or so...maybe 2 if I'm travelling and use Wifi tether.

Quote :

"is your $80 rate after some sort of discount?"

At Sprint I was paying $75/month after taxes for unlimited everything, but that was after the 25% IBM Friends and Family discount.

3/5/2012 4:40:41 PM

Quote :

"And lets not talk about their "4G""

Hey now, don't be frontin' on some Clearwire in my presence!!!

3/5/2012 5:00:51 PM

I switched over to Virgin Moble's service when I dropped ATT (was using an iPhone at the time.)

Paid $100 for an Optimus V (middle of the road smartphone.) and pay $35/month for 300 minutes, unlimited data and texts. Works fine for me, and a hell of alot cheaper than what I was paying. I'm on the internet all the damn time with it, signal's at least as good as what I was getting. No complaints here. I'll probably buy another phone in a year or so once they come out with some new ones, but really, it does everything I want it to do now (navigation, facebook, Square, IM, etc). Camera is meh, but usable.

3/5/2012 7:20:47 PM

Sprint has the best deal out on smart phone plans.

Make sure you have service at home/work/etc during your return period, or better yet have friends w/sprint come over so you can test the service.

The only cheaper alternative is prepaid (like boost or virgin) but they do not include any roaming and you are getting prepaid grade customer service.

Sprints network is rated better than ATT and Tmobile in NC. (most people think ATT is second behind VZW, but its not)

3/5/2012 10:23:49 PM

Straight Talk has some good enough Andriod phones if you can stand Sprint's network and don't go into the multi-gig data range.

3/6/2012 9:16:32 PM

I thought straight talk cdma was on verizon? If they are on sprint then might as well go with virgin mobile.

For now we switched to the T-mobile monthly plans (yay more data same price), so we can take as long as we want to decide where to go next and hopefully get a deal on phones.

3/7/2012 8:55:35 AM

Quote :

"Moved to Verizon and I've never been happier with a carrier. Sure it's more expensive (I'm on 450 + unlimited texting + 4GB data for $96/month total), but I finally have fast and reliable 3G data (unlike Sprint, on both counts), blazing 4G data, and superior voice service as a bonus"

3/7/2012 4:08:33 PM

I have an unlocked GSM Iphone. What would be the best prepaid plan to be on?

3/7/2012 8:17:01 PM

T-mobile has value plans where you don't have to pay the phone subsidy.

[Edited on March 7, 2012 at 8:56 PM. Reason : whoops, you said prepaid]

3/7/2012 8:53:08 PM

Quote :

"I thought straight talk cdma was on verizon? If they are on sprint then might as well go with virgin mobile. For now we switched to the T-mobile monthly plans (yay more data same price), so we can take as long as we want to decide where to go next and hopefully get a deal on phones."

Only the basic straight talk phones are on verizon. The Android smart phones are on Sprint. The non-Android smart phones are on ATT.

Virgin is only cheaper if you use 300 minutes or less/month.

3/7/2012 9:27:23 PM

Tmobile value plans don't give you a phone and require a 2 year contract. Not worth it when straight talk will sell you a GSM sim card and plans for the same price with no contract.

3/7/2012 10:45:03 PM